AIDS: A New Threat Looming On The Horizon

It's common knowledge that people with HIV may someday progress to the final stage of HIV which is known as acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS. AIDS is the last stage of the HIV condition and decreases the immune cell count to an alarmingly low number. Fortunately, thanks to the technological advancements we continue to enjoy to this day, many treatments have been made and a person with HIV can feel as if nothing is even wrong with their body at all for years and years. Some people even live out their lives without the virus progressing to the final stage.

Treatments To Slow Down The Progression Of HIV

A new type of treatment for HIV known as Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy or HAART for short has been changing the lives of HIV patients worldwide. HIV used to be a disease that could kill you within a short span of time. But because of HAART treatments, HIV can actually become a long-term disease who's affected aren't as pronounced as they should be. HAART treatments stop the virus from progressing fast enough and keep it at the lowest stage possible. This helps the patient live a fairly normal life despite having HIV.

The Symptoms Of HIV

A person who is known to have HIV may experience the following symptoms: unexplained fevers, headaches, and swelling of lymph nodes. The symptoms though go away after a period of time and the person with HIV will feel as if they're not even sick at all. This can continue for up to 10 years. The virus is still inside the person though, even despite the fact that they are not feeling any of the symptoms associated with HIV.

The Different Stages Of HIV

The stages of HIV can be categorized into three different stages. The first stage is stage 1. In this stage, the person may have minor symptoms of the disease but aren't as pronounced and can immediately go away. Their CD4 cells are still at a high number at this stage. Stage 2 is the next stage. In this stage, the virus has not yet progressed into AIDS yet but the person's CD4 cells have decreased significantly. The final stage, which is also known as stage 3, the virus has progressed into AIDs and the person has an extremely low number of CD4 cells that fight off infections. Many people with HIV experience the following symptoms at stage 2: sweating, unexplained fevers and the extreme swelling of lymph nodes. At the final stage, the CD4 cell count will be reduced dramatically. This means that the patient is vulnerable to even the slightest viruses in the air and anywhere. Even different agents that swirl the air that is normally harmless may cause fatal complications to the patient. The HIV virus may also progress faster if the patient continues to show habits that are linked to how they had gotten the virus in the first place such as having sex without protection and taking drugs through shared needles. Fortunately, a person diagnosed with HIV at 25 years nowadays is expected to have 33 more years to live. That's almost 4 times the expected lifespan of an HIV patient in the last 15 years. This is assumed that the patient attends therapies religiously and avoids the same habits that had gotten them the virus in the first place.